ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) – Big things are happening for community health in southwest Georgia! Phoebe Putney Health System (PPHS) and the Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) have officially joined forces to take healthcare training and access to the next level.

In a major step forward, Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, President and CEO of MSM, and Scott Steiner, Phoebe’s President and CEO, signed a Master Affiliation Agreement to strengthen and expand medical education and research in the region.

The new partnership will:

• Expand training opportunities for MSM students and residents.
• Develop new residency programs to grow the local healthcare workforce.
• Establish a Research Hub focused on tackling the region’s most urgent health challenges.

This collaboration builds on a long-standing relationship between Phoebe and Morehouse, both committed to improving access to care and fostering a diverse, homegrown healthcare workforce ready to serve southwest Georgia’s communities.

Phoebe and MSM say this milestone marks not just a partnership—creating a stronger, more diverse healthcare workforce and improving access to care for underserved communities.

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